Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 356, June, 1845

In Short

This issue of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine offers a vibrant, eclectic cross-section of mid-nineteenth-century literary culture. Through biographical studies, aesthetic essays, serial fiction, and political histories, it explores the life of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, dissects the technical craft of painting and drama, follows a British diplomat through parliamentary and courtly intrigue, and charts Hannibal’s ancient alpine crossing. Balancing rigorous critical scholarship with haunting, dreamlike personal prose, it showcases the intellectual ambition of Victorian periodical culture and its enduring fascination with art, history, and human psychology.

The Story

The volume opens with an extensive critical biographical study of Alexander Pushkin, detailing his artistic development, his exile, his devotion to Russian national identity in works like Evgenii Oniegin, and his tragic death, culminating in his quiet burial at the Sviatogorsk monastery. This reflection on national genius transitions into a theoretical inquiry into contemporary theater, where the author critiques long historical plays like Henry Taylor's Philip van Artevelde, arguing that dramatic poetry gains its true power through structural simplicity rather than sprawling, novelistic scope.

Narrative prose takes over in the serialized memoirs of a British statesman, who recounts an absurd wrongful arrest alongside a French mendicant before plunging into the high-stakes world of political office, parliamentary debate, and courtly romance. The volume then shifts to domestic comedy and legal dispute in a detailed analysis of the Sieur Lebrun and his wife, dissecting their tumultuous marriage, lavish fetes, and public altercations to expose the absurdities hidden beneath societal polish.

Focusing on the visual arts, the collection turns to Cennino Cennini’s ancient manual on painting. It examines medieval pigments, the chemical nature of colors like lapis lazuli and ochres, and the lost technical secrets of old masters like Titian and Raphael, offering practical advice to modern artists. This interest in visual presentation extends into a lighthearted yet sharp satire on the "Aesthetics of Dress," which traces the history of trousers from Roman captives to modern tailoring, mocking contemporary fashion blunders.

A darker, deeply psychological tone emerges in Thomas De Quincey’s Suspiria de Profundis. Exploring the concept of the palimpsest, he compares the human memory to a parchment where forgotten childhood traumas, deep griefs, and hidden thoughts remain buried beneath later experiences. Through spectral figures like the "Dark Interpreter" and vivid, storm-swept dreamscapes, he maps the mysterious, tragic depths of human consciousness.

The issue then turns toward epic military history with a vivid account of Hannibal’s legendary march across the Alps. The narrative contrasts his brutal struggles against icy precipices, wild torrents, and hostile mountain tribes with Napoleon’s far easier crossing centuries later, framing the Carthaginian general as a solitary genius battling the relentless might of Rome.

The volume concludes with literary preservation and critical debate. After poetic tributes to a fallen admiral and the late writer Thomas Hood, the editor Christopher North delivers a detailed line-by-line critique of John Dryden’s translations of Geoffrey Chaucer. Examining meter, middle English grammar, and characterization, North defends Chaucer's original rhythmic mastery against Dryden's polished seventeenth-century adaptations, ending the issue on a note of deep reverence for the foundations of English poetry.

How It Unfolds

The life and death of Pushkin The issue opens with a solemn biographical account of Russia's national poet, tracing his love for the sea, his creative exile at Mikhailovskoe, and his eventual death and dawn burial at the Sviatogorsk monastery.

Debating dramatic craft A critical essay argues that modern playwriting suffers from bloated historical scopes, using Henry Taylor's Philip van Artevelde to illustrate how dramatic poetry thrives best under tight, focused bounds.

Political and legal intrigue In serialized memoirs, an English statesman escapes a bumbling guardhouse arrest to balance public office with love, followed by an analytical breakdown of the petty marital lawsuits and grandiose social fetes of the Sieur Lebrun.

Pigments and pantaloons The focus shifts to aesthetics, first evaluating Cennino Cennini's medieval painting recipe book and simple color palettes, then pivoting to a satirical history of men's trousers from ancient Rome to modern fashion.

Dreams of the palimpsest Thomas De Quincey reflects on the layered nature of memory and introduces the "Dark Interpreter," a haunting dream-figure who reflects the hidden, tragic moral truths buried within the human subconscious.

Hannibal against the Alps A sweeping historical narrative detail Hannibal's grueling military ascent through uncharted Alpine wilderness, contrasting his solitary struggle against hostile tribes with Napoleon's clear-paved transit centuries later.

Critiquing the English bards The volume closes with formal literary criticism, dissecting John Dryden's translations of Geoffrey Chaucer to defend the intricate meter, grammar, and musicality of original Middle English verse.

The People

• Alexander Pushkin: Russia's premier romantic poet, whose fierce love of liberty, deep connection to national folklore, and unyielding creative drive produce masterpiece poems while leading him to an early grave.
• The Statesman (Marston): An ambitious English politician navigating the chaos of government duty, public influence, and parliamentary battles while trying to honor the wishes of his beloved partner.
• Sieur Lebrun: A French vanity-poet and litigator who orchestrates elaborate, allegorical household fetes while constantly clashing with his lifestyle-loving wife in public and in court.
• The Dark Interpreter: A haunting, symbolic phantom in Thomas De Quincey’s dreams who acts like a Greek tragic chorus, reflecting hidden childhood sorrows and revealing subconscious truths.
• Hannibal: The brilliant Carthaginian general whose iron will drives an army, complete with war elephants, through treacherous Alpine snows and hostile tribes to single-handedly challenge the power of Rome.
• Geoffrey Chaucer & John Dryden: The foundational medieval poet and his famous seventeenth-century translator, whose contrasting styles, metrical choices, and character portraits form the battlefield for a deep debate on English poetic rhythm.

In Its Own Voice

"The dead man glided to his last abode, past his own deserted cottage, past the three beloved firs which he had planted not long before."

A solemn biographical portrait describes the quiet, early-morning return of Alexander Pushkin’s body to his family's country monastery for burial.

"The vellum, from having been the setting of the jewel, has risen at length to be the jewel itself; and the burden of thought, from having given the chief value to the vellum, has now become the chief obstacle to its value..."

Thomas De Quincey reflects on ancient palimpsests, drawing an analogy between overwritten parchment membranes and the layered, hidden structure of human memory.

"His combat with Rome was not that of a general with a general, of an army with an army; it was like the subsequent contest between Napoleon and England, the contest of a man with a nation..."

A historical account captures the sheer scale of Hannibal's solitary campaign against the Roman republic.

What It's Really About

Beneath its variety of subjects, this volume is fundamentally about the nature of artistic legacy and human memory. Whether examining how a nation remembers a fallen poet like Pushkin, how the human brain buries and retains childhood grief within its internal palimpsest, or how modern translators preserve medieval verse, the texts return repeatedly to what endures over time. It explores how human effort—whether a general fighting an empire, an artist mixing durable ochre pigments, or a poet refining verse—strives against decay, obscurity, and the friction of history.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers looking for an authentic window into the Victorian mind will find this collection remarkably engaging. Reading a nineteen-century periodical offers an immersive experience that no single historical novel can match: you step directly into the era's grandest debates, sharpest humor, and deepest philosophical anxieties. The prose alternates between rigorous literary analysis, sharp social satire, and breathtakingly poetic memoirs.

Naturally, the volume reflects its period. Readers must navigate lengthy, complex sentences, untranslated Latin phrases, and explicit mid-nineteenth-century political perspectives. The detailed metrical debates over Middle English or medieval paint formulas require patience.

Yet the rewards are vast. Thomas De Quincey’s hallucinatory psychological prose remains remarkably modern, anticipates modern theories of the subconscious, and reads like a dream. The vivid account of Hannibal’s march rivals the finest action narrative, and the lively debates on fashion and theater are genuinely funny. It is an ideal read for historians, literary enthusiasts, and anyone who delights in watching brilliant nineteenth-century minds wrestle with art, history, and human nature.